Genre: Drama
Director: Lee Tamahori
Stars: Dominic Cooper, Ludivine Sagnier, Raad Rawi
***
The Devil’s Double tells recent Iraqi history through a doppelganger’s dilemma: does he destroy his family or his soul?
Director Lee Tamahori’s dynamic thriller is based on the true story of Latif Yahia, the regular Iraqi forced to play stand-in for Saddam Hussein’s psychopathic elder son, Uday, owing to an accident of resemblance.
If Latif refuses, his family will be killed.
Britain’s Dominic Cooper gives a knockout performance as good guy Latif and evil clown Uday. It’s the stuff star dreams are made of.
Set in 1991 during the first Persian Gulf War, The Devil’s Double is as lurid as a DayGlo painting and possibly more graphically violent than it needs to be. Yet Tamahori insists reality was far worse than what he has depicted, a view reinforced by the daily headlines.
